Improvement in loops for stirrups



timidi en-a JOSIAH B. GATHRIGHT, 0F LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY Letters Patent No. 112,800, dated March 21, 1871.

MPRCVEMENT IN LOOPS FOR STIRRUPS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the saure.

I, Josu-iu B. GATHRIGHT, of Jthe city of Louisville. county of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, have invented new and. useful Improvements in Stirrup-Ioops and lmethod ot attaching stirrups to saddles; and the following is a full and clear description of the same, reference being had t-o `lthe accompanying drawing maliing a part of this specification.

The general object of my invention is to provide a method and means of securing stirrups toisaddles, of that cla-ss which has the movable. fender skirt, without'the use of a buckle on the stirrup-leather, and without the necessity of connecting the upper and lower ends of the stirrup-leather together.

' By the usual method the st-i1'rup-leather passes along the under side of the. fender, secured to it by loops or rivets, with a portion of its length extending beyond each end of the fender. The upper end is passed through the loop or hole'in the tree, and turned down and secured to the other end, which has been passed through-thc stirrup and turned upward t meet it.

Another method in use is to use two straps instead of one continuous stirrup-leather, one secured to the upper end of the fender and the other to the lower end, the ends passing through the loop or hole and stirrup respectively, and turned together and secured as before.

' Bly invention consists in providing a stirrup-loop, preferably in the form as shown in Figure 1, which will not only answer the purpose of an 4ordinary loop, but, by means of extra bars suitably arranged with respect to each other, will firmly secure the strap,

thus avoiding the necessity of connecting it with the strap (or end) which passes through the stirrup, and thereby saving much leather.

The stirrup-loop (see iig. 1) is preferably in two pieces. rIhe upper piece is provided with a horizontal slot, through which a sheet-iron strap may he passed to secure it to the tree, (sce Figure 3.) The lower part is preferably hinged or jointed to the upper part, as seen in ig. 1, thus allowing free motion to the stirrup without wearing the leather.

rIhe loop may be in one piece, substantially as seen in Figure 2,'havinga suitable staple-hole in its upper portion, so that -it may be secured to the treeby a staple and move freely with the' stirrup.

The loop has three bars, or equivalents, as seen in gs. l and 2, and the strap being passed under the lower one, A, and over around the upper one, C, and back over B, is held rnlly in position by the friction and compression which that arrangement produces.

The manner of putting in the strap is shown in Iig. 2. The fender is secured to this v strap by rivets or other known means, (see iig. 3,) unless they should be eut in one piece, and the stirrup is secured to the lower part of the fender by a metal hook riveted to thc lower part of the fender, or by leather strap, (see Iig. 3,) or other means' substantially the same.

In this way nearly all the-leather ordinarily used in stirrup-leathers is saved, and the loops on the fenders and the buckles, which so often chafe horses and injure' the girth-attachments of the saddie, are dispensed with. l

I am aware that this method of securing the ends of straps is not new; but the adaptation and applica.- tion of it to this purpose is novel, and works economical results thatare -very considerable and peculiar to this application of it.

It may sometimes be desirable to place theloop higher up, resting upon the bar of the tree instead of swinging below it, in which case the form -shown in Figure 4 would he desirable for the loop.'

In that case the bottom plate ofthe casting (or the surface of the tree) may take the place of' the bar B, and the bar O would be movable in slots or hinged, as shown in fig. 4, to'facilitate the adjustment of the strap, and to more effectually secure' 'it under the changed circumstances.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y Y The method, substantially as herein shown and described, of attaching stirrups to saddles, and also,I as specific means to this end, the stirrup-loops operating substantially as shown and described.

Vitnesses O. GATHRIGHT, Jr., R. M. DENNIS. 

